Theatre
To Hell and Back
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Mary Brennan
THREE STARS
There’s a wink of scurrilous kinship with the house style of Oran Mor pantos, but there’s an even closer affiliation with the lampooning energies of Wildcat in the roster of skits and sketches presented by the DM Collective – the initials stand for David MacLennan, in memory of his unstinting support for Scotland’s theatre-makers.
A mighty array of writing talents have doubtless chipped in with ideas for To Hell and Back but only five of them come on stage to sing and sling irreverent quips at the usual suspects: politicians, bankers, capitalists. We know the drill, as does Dave Anderson who declares he “cannae dae this – it’s not funny any more.” Whereupon he goes to the Devil. Or rather the Devil (Joyce Falconer in full growl-power) comes to him and before you can say Dante, he’s in Hell where each infernal circle holds an image of our times.
Lust and Gluttony are – predictably – awash with toffs, many of them exercising Westminster privileges in pursuit of self-gratification. But as Anderson, and his gallus guide (Kirstin McLean) reach the lower depths, where Cat Crozier and the others switch between victims and villains, so the satire acquires not just a snarl in its wise-cracking bark but more bite as well. Falconer’s rasping litany of the devil’s work – from engineering disasters to exploiting corporate greed at the expense of the poor – is a mordant reality check while the blinkered cybernat (Brian James) endlessly tweeting and re-tweeting in his personal hashtag Purgatory is a masterstroke: ridiculous, yet with a serious twist that ignites Anderson into action – so get thee behind me, apathy!
Change only happens if you go out and make it happen. We’ll just finish our pie first, eh?
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